


Ancient History Part 2

by patroklassy



Series: Ancient History [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Achilles - Freeform, Alexander the Great - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Hephaistion - Freeform, M/M, Patroklos - Freeform, Reincarnation, Reincarnation AU, The Iliad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:04:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroklassy/pseuds/patroklassy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was originally written for a different pairing for a different fandom, but I changed it to Erwin and Levi because they're better than everyone. </p><p>And yes I did completely change the tense and style from Part 1.</p></blockquote>





	Ancient History Part 2

When Erwin opened his eyes, everything was white. It didn’t make sense to him. The last thing he remembered were those words: “I’m sorry, Erwin. I’d promised you—” Then Levi’s hand was sliding into his, and then . . . loudness. Pain and light. And then quiet. Dark. He was dead, then. Or at least—he should be. Where was he?

            He took a careful step, testing the ground. It was white, too. He couldn’t see where it ended or began. What if he fell off? Something welled inside him, and he bit back the urge to scream. It was a new sensation, one he had seldom felt. _Fear._ He was afraid. Where was he? The afterlife?

 _No,_ he thought. _Please, no._ He had never wanted a life after death, never believed in one. The life he had lived, the decisions he had made, that was supposed to be it.

He took another step, peering around. It was like those nights where there was no moon, and the streetlamps were out; you could wave your hand in front of your face and not see a thing. Except he could see himself. But other than that, the rest of the world—if, indeed, there even was a world—was invisible.

            “Hello?” Erwin called. “Is there anybody there?”

            Half of him had expected a voice to reply, the voice of one god or another. He didn’t care which. When his own voice was swallowed in the vast expanse surrounding him and no higher being replied, he felt stupid for even having thought it. But this was all so unfamiliar, so impossible. His imagination would have to run a little wilder than usual.

            Time passed. It was impossible to tell how much. Erwin kept walking and walking and walking. Every now and again he thought he could see something in the distance, a building or a person. But it was just like those mirages he’d sometimes seen outside the Walls—an illusion. Tired, scared, angry, frustrated, Erwin sat himself down, felt woozy looking at the way there was no visible ground upon which he was sitting, and closed his eyes.

 

“There you are.”

            He thought he’d imagined the voice, or dreamt it. Was he asleep? He wasn’t sure.

            “Thank god you stopped. You know, if you’d just stayed put, I would have found you much sooner.”

            This time, Erwin opened his eyes. The white glared at him and he blinked, letting his eyes adjust. “Who’s there?” he said.

            “What are you talking about? It’s just me.”

            Erwin turned to the voice, scrambled to his feet.

Levi.

The whiteness was fading, turning to a gentle yellow glow that seemed to radiate from Levi himself, transforming his surroundings into something still quite transparent but gaining more and more clarity the longer Erwin stared. It was as if Levi had carried the world in with him.

They seemed to be in a kind of museum or gallery, where the floors and walls were white marble and stone. Levi was standing just a few feet away, smiling in a way Erwin had never seen before. He looked younger somehow. Happier. And there were no wounds, no blood, nothing. He was safe.

            “What are you wearing?” Erwin asked.

            Levi glanced down. “It’s comfortable,” he said, shrugging. A khiton reached partway down his thighs. “Besides, take a look at yourself.”

            Erwin glanced down and realised that he was wearing something similar. His feet were bare, and he could feel the cold of the marble. Looking up again, he saw that the whole room was visible now.

            “Are you ready to go?” Levi asked. He turned, as if he was about to lead Erwin away.

            “Levi,” Erwin said.

            Levi turned back. “You’re going to stick with that name, then?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Not Patroklos, or Hephaistion?”

            Patroklos? Hephaistion? What was he talking about?

And then, slowly, the holes began to fill in. A battlefield. Frustration. Days spent in his tent, or on the shore. The sounds of battle reaching him. Then death. Not his death, though. That came later. That was smaller, less important to him. Levi’s death. But he wasn’t Levi yet, he was Patroklos, and he was wearing Achilles’ armour. _Erwin’s_ armour. There was so much pain, so much agony.

And then again, later. Sickness. There was no armour this time. Levi’s name was Hephaistion and he died indoors, vomiting himself empty. Days of weeping. Days of fury. And then, less than a year later, Erwin’s own last cough of breath. He had been a king. The greatest king. How had he so easily forgotten what all of history remembered?

            “What name do you prefer?” Levi asked

            Erwin blinked at him. “Alexander,” he said.

            “Alexander? If that’s what you—”

            “No, I mean—that was me? I was him?”

            Levi gave him a patient look. “I guess you’ve forgotten. It happens. It’s been a long time since then. That was you, Erwin.”

            “But—I killed people? That many people?”

            Levi shook his head. “Don’t dwell on it, okay? It was a different time, a different cause.” His skin looked so delicate in the warm light. “I loved Achilles and I loved Alexander. And I love you now.” His eyes were full of sadness, a few thousand years’ worth. “The wars are getting longer every time. But who knows—maybe someday we won’t be such a tragedy.”

            Those words rang through Erwin’ head. _Such a tragedy._

            “So, are you ready to go?” Levi repeated.

            “Go where?”

            “You really have forgotten, haven’t you? To try again. To start over.” He stopped, looked at Erwin and then away. “You do want to, don’t you?”

            “Y—yes. Of course.”

            Levi’s expression lifted. “Good,” he said. “Then we may as well get started.” He turned again, started walking.

            “Levi,” Erwin said again.

            And again, Levi turned back. He hadn’t gone more than a step. “What’s wrong?”

            Erwin hesitated, trying to find the best words to frame it. In the end he said simply, “I’m sorry.”

            “For what?” Levi stared at him, genuinely confused.

            “For taking so long. I—I don’t know why I didn’t recognise you. I mean, in the Underground I recognised _something_ , but . . . why was I like that? Why didn’t I remember—?” 

            “Erwin,” Levi said, cutting him off. “It’s okay. I didn’t remember until I got here, either. Neither of us could have known. We can’t control the way things turn out, we just have to hope for the best. I fell in love with you the way I always have. But things were different this time. I think . . . honestly, I think my deaths had scared you. Twice in a row, I died first. You saw that. You saw my lifeless bodies. I don’t blame you for keeping your distance this time, for taking longer, even if it was subconsciously. I don’t blame you for trying to save yourself.”

            Had that been it? Had he been trying to save himself from the grief of Levi’s inevitable death? “That’s no excuse,” Erwin argued. “There’s no excusing this.” He shook his head. “I left you to wonder for so long. Levi, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He trembled a little, swayed.

Levi moved forward to pull him into an embrace, and that was what did it, that was what brought it all back properly. The grief. The terror. The _love._ All of it.

And the promises. Twice over now they’d done it. Twice they’d promised to find each other again.

Erwin felt tears in his eyes and he buried his head against Levi’s shoulder, trying to hide them.

            “You know,” Levi murmured to him. His hand was at the back of Erwin’s head, playing with his hair. “We were better this time. We died together. That’s something, at least. Progress.”

            Erwin could hear the humour in Levi’s voice, and it only made him press his head in against him harder. “Progress,” he agreed. But then it hit him all again and a sob wracked his body. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice muffled by Levi’s shoulder. His fingers gripped at Levi’s back, holding him so tight. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.”

            “Stop saying that. There’s nothing to be sorry for. I got to spend the best part of another lifetime with you.”

            They stood like that for some time, holding each other. When at last Levi pulled away, he looked at Erwin with tears in his own eyes. “Ready to try again?”

            Erwin nodded. Of course he would try again. He would keep trying until they got it right.

            Levi took Erwin’s hand and led him to a doorway at the far side of the room. Erwin realised, at last, that they were in the palace in which he himself had been born the first time around.

            He remembered the doorway. Once they passed through it, he wouldn’t see Levi again. At least, not for a long time. Maybe they’d meet as children, like Hephaistion and Alexander. Or maybe they’d take a bit longer, like they had this time around. It didn’t matter. They would always find each other.

            “See you on the other side,” Levi said to him. He gave Erwin’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

            Erwin squeezed back. “I’ll be waiting for you,” he said.

            They leaned towards each other, letting their lips fall together in a kiss. They savoured it, forced it into their memory. This is what they would search for. This essence of each other. They didn’t doubt that they could do it—they would always do it. But it was good to put it to memory, all the same.

            “I love you,” Levi whispered.

            “I love you too,” Erwin whispered back.

Then he felt Levi’s fingers slip from his own, and Erwin closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see him leave.

When he opened them again, just a moment later, Levi was gone. Erwin braced himself. Took a deep breath. Stepped through the doorway.

Light surrounded him and he had just enough time to think of Levi’s face before it all went dark.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for a different pairing for a different fandom, but I changed it to Erwin and Levi because they're better than everyone. 
> 
> And yes I did completely change the tense and style from Part 1.


End file.
